Last piecart burned to a crisp

Press, 17 July 1980, Page 1

Last piecart burned to a crisp

Late-night diners would have found only an empty, wind-swept space last evening where Bradshaw’s Piecart is usually parked in Latimer Square. The “cafe de kerb," a night - time landmark in Latimer Square for many years, and the last of its kind in Christchurch, is no more. It was destroyed by fire in its shed at 8 England Street, Linwood, yesterday afternoon. “It is a sad day. A lot of people made jokes about it, but a lot of people will miss it,” said Mr Alan Boyd, who made his living from the mobile restaurant for 30 years. Mr Boyd, who owned the piecart from 1954 to 1975, was out when it caught fire in a shed on his property just after 2 p.m. yesterday. A passing taxi-driver raised the alarm, but the flames had a good hold on both the piecart and the shed when the first fire engine arrived. “It would have to be a write-off. The only part that might still be any use is the chassis (from a

1937 Buick),” Mr” Boyd said.

The owner of the piecart, which was insured, is Mr S. Gill. ' -

In 1956, the piecart’s predecessor was gutted by fire in the same shed at 8 England Street. “It is history repeating itself," Mr Boyd said.

The first piecart had been fitted with a coal range when it opened for business in Cathedral Square about 1928. A few years later it was fitted with 'an electric range which the owner, Mr Bradshaw, had built under a cloak of secrecy. Fire also severely damaged a house at 15 Ruakaka Street, Hornby, yesterday afternoon.

The blaze, which broke out just. after 2 p.m., could be seen over a wide area, and the Fire Service received many alarm calls. At one stage it was feared that some of the occupants might still be inside the fiercely burning house, but all had been accounted for by the- time the first engine arrived. One machine was still at the house two hours after the fire broke out.